After something of a short break - at least in the landscape of how busy the schedule was in December - we’re pleased to be back on home soil, refreshed and ready to go again for what is going to be another big test, but another opportunity for us to use home advantage and continue to move in the right direction.

Despite being forced to settle for an FA Cup replay in our previous match at Crystal Palace, there were many pleasing elements to our performance after the dip in our levels during the last league game at Wolves. Starting with the game at Molineux, I thought it was the first real blip since we played today’s opponents - Aston Villa - way back in August, and it certainly wasn’t down to a lack of effort. I still saw a team trying to give everything but we lacked that bit of fizz and energy to really take the game on. That can happen when the games stack up and you have injuries and suspensions to contend with.

It was reassuring and I believe shows how far we’ve come, then, to see us brush that off and go again for the FA Cup game against Palace. The mentality of the players, backed by another incredible away support with 4,000 of you coming down to support us at Selhurst Park for a midweek game so soon after Christmas, to bounce back was spot on. We were back on it, took the game on and we showed consistency in our habits throughout the 90 minutes. I believe we were the team more likely to go and score and win the tie, even after going down to 10 men.

The red card for Dominic was, of course, frustrating for everyone. We appealed that decision and were pleased to learn earlier this week that was successful, meaning Dom’s three-match ban was overturned and he is available to play this afternoon. I think we all know that everything replayed in slow motion looks a lot worse. At the end of the day, there was no malice in Dom’s challenge and the referee could clearly see it in real-time. But when you slow things down and replay it over and over, you can end up finding new perspectives. If we’re going to slow down that incident, my question would be, why don’t we slow down our claim for a penalty at the end when a defender dragged Beto to the floor by wrapping his arms around him? There has to be consistency.

But, overall, there was a lot to be pleased with from the tie, including a few of the lads coming into the team, with Joao Virginia performing well in goal and Arnaut Danjuma affecting things in good areas of the pitch. Seamus Coleman getting 90 minutes was also another big positive for us. He’s been fantastic since I came to the Club. He looks fit again, he looks strong and getting those match minutes will do him the world of good as we look forward.

If Seamus features today, he will set a new Club record for most Premier League appearances and that says a lot about his importance, influence and persistence. He encapsulates the feeling of what Everton should be about. His mentality resonates through the group and everyone in the squad - rightly - has massive respect for him.

We welcome Unai Emery, his players, staff and everyone connected to Aston Villa.

Unai has evidently done a very good job since taking over a little more than a year ago and, with the ongoing financial commitment from the club’s owners, he has built a highly-competitive team. We are ready and up for the challenge of facing them today.

We have genuine belief within the group and we have shown already that when we focus on ourselves and get things right, we can be more than a match for any team. 

We know, as ever, you’ll be behind us all the way.

Enjoy the game.

Sean